After years of Western Conference dominance, the league is finally finding a better balance. Several stars made their way East, somehow still headlined by the 41-year-old LeBron James' decision to join the Philadelphia 76ers.
That said, the Western Conference remains a gauntlet. Unfortunately, the Blazers find themselves right in the thick of the standings -- not ready to contend, too talented to land a high draft pick to add to this core. We just saw that play out this season, with a first-round exit at the hands of the Spurs that resulted in Portland losing its lottery-protected first-round pick to the Chicago Bulls from the Larry Nance Jr. trade.
After finishing seventh with an impressive 42-40 win season, the goal for Portland is now to gradually continue building on that growth. Could that momentum even result in avoiding the play-in entirely this season, securing a top sixth spot in the West? The landscape could still change before the start of the season, but here's where Portland and the rest of the West stack up in August as the chaos starts to die down.
NBA Western Conference Power Rankings 2026-27
15. Sacramento Kings
Sacramento's front office actually deserves credit for ranking at the bottom of the barrel. They've finally embraced a rebuild after years of mediocrity. Perhaps Darius Acuff Jr. and whoever the Kings pair him with in 2027's draft could finally be the start of a long-overdue new era in Sacramento.
14. New Orleans Pelicans
Meanwhile, you have a New Orleans front office that has essentially considered its entire young core responsible for a 26-win season off limits in trade talks, except for perhaps the premium asking prices they seek in return for wings Trey Murphy III or Herb Jones. There should be continued growing pains in New Orleans as they still need time to sort out a young core they're so hellbent on keeping in tact.
13. Memphis Grizzlies
The Grizzlies quietly have an up-and-coming core of their own after landing Duke's Cameron Boozer with the No. 3 overall selection. They should have a size advantage on a nightly basis in two skilled high-IQ bigs with Zach Edey, though the Purdue big man must find a way to stay on the court after being limited to just 11 contests last season.
The Grizzlies are another team that wisely embraced a rebuild, moving on from Jaren Jackson Jr. and more recently, sending Ja Morant to Portland. While that positions them well for the future, don't count out the immediate impact these young Grizzlies players are capable of this year.
12. Los Angeles Clippers
Even beyond the seemingly never-ending Kawhi Leonard situation, the Clippers have a lot more about this roster to sort out. Keaton Wagler's Summer League didn't necessarily inspire confidence in a starting point guard role this season, making it more likely he'd have to share a backcourt alongside Darius Garland as the primary playmaker. This youth movement will be quite the transition for the Clippers as they move on from their failed James Harden-Kawhi Leonard era.
11. Utah Jazz
There's a chance the Utah Jazz struck gold with their Darryn Peterson selection. If he's an immediate impact player as advertised in Summer League, Utah could not only have the Rookie of the Year on its hands, but they could legitimately be fighting for a play-in spot.
This was already a team that's stacked in the frontcourt, which remains the case despite the haul they received from the Lakers in exchange for Walker Kessler. Throw in the playmaking and shot creation with a backcourt of Peterson and Keyonte George? You're looking at a young balanced team finally ready to make some noise out west.
10. Dallas Mavericks
The Mavericks washed their hands of the Nico Harrison-Luka Doncic trade by sending Anthony Davis to the Washington Wizards. They've now embraced the Cooper Flagg era, pairing him with NCAA national champions in former Michigan head coach Dusty May and forward Morez Johnson Jr.
They still have a healthy Kyrie Irving, forward depth, and a rising star in Flagg, so this won't be an easy out by any means. But it also isn't the final version of Flagg, meaning this is the worst Dallas should be ranked for the next decade-plus, assuming they're able to hold onto their drafted star this time around.
9. Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns have done a relatively well job of bouncing back from what was a franchise-altering Kevin Durant deal. New owner syndrome got the best of Mat Ishbia, leaving the top-heavy Suns very few future assets to work with.
They've done a surprisingly good job of gluing it back together; stealing Dillon Brooks from Houston was a key turning point in this team's winning culture. They also have more young pieces than they should considering how their backs were against the wall.
So while the Suns may have prevented burning everything to the ground in Phoenix, now they face a new challenge of escaping no man's land in the coming seasons with limited assets. Phoenix exceeded expectations last season, which is a testament to what head coach Jordan Ott was able to achieve with a limited roster. But that's exactly what it is -- a limited roster in a Western Conference where teams like the Jazz, Grizzlies, and Blazers are only getting better.
8. Golden State Warriors
Golden State may be in the midst of arguably the most underwhelming offseason in the entire league. After the ACL tear suffered by Jimmy Butler and Golden State's failure to survive the play-in tournament, it was apparent that something needed to be done to capitalize on the closing window of a 38-year-old Steph Curry. Instead, they've been connected to multiple stars only to... bring back Draymond Green?
This is an aging roster that Golden State (and LeBron) knows isn't a star away anymore. They aren't willing to sacrifice signficant future assets if their trade isn't a true needle mover to contention, which makes you wonder if Curry and Green will quietly fade into the background of the Western Conference after a decade-plus at the forefront.
7. Portland Trail Blazers
A realistic goal for the Blazers this season would be to avoid the play-in tournament entirely and secure a top sixth seed in the West. Ultimately, it will be a matter of how well the new-look backcourt of Damian Lillard and Ja Morant fits into the existing picture.
From a talent perspective, Portland now has enough to ascend into that tier of teams like the Rockets and Lakers, approaching the Timberwolves and Nuggets. Now, it's a matter of whether first-year head coach Micah Nori can figure out a way to get this guard-heavy roster to translate that talent into wins. It could be a trial-and-error process, but the margin for error is thin for what should be an even deeper Western Conference this season.
6. Houston Rockets
Houston's flaws were on full display last season. Not even Fred VanVleet's return can entirely fix what we witnessed last season, but it should at least help. Don't underestimate the addition of veteran Marcus Smart, either. These veterans coming to take over the backcourt should calm down an offense that was struggling to find an identity or go-to option.
Kevin Durant played the role of a veteran bucket-getter, Amen Thompson's offensive limitations were exposed in a larger playmaking role, and Houston, perhaps most concerningly, has an Alperen Sengun problem.
Houston should be more experienced, and talent was never an issue, so they should be a middle-of-the-pack playoff team in the West yet again. But there are a few too many flaws here. The Rockets' front office may have to move a few pieces of their young core around.
5. Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers are one of the most difficult teams to rank in the West, because, well, they were finally one of the most active. The post-LeBron James era officially begins, and it was clear in the moves they made that they prioritized Luka Doncic as the full-on face of the franchise going forward.
They previously promised Doncic a roster construction similar to the success he had in Dallas with the 2024 Mavericks run to the Finals. Austin Reaves already plays a Kyrie Irving-lite role as a crafty secondary playmaker, taking some of the offensive burden off Doncic. Los Angeles still lacks the two-way wings that contributed to Dallas' run in 2024, though they did recently sign former Blazer Matisse Thybulle to help somewhat address that problem.
The biggest upgrade they've made is the aggressive trade and investment in former Utah Jazz big man Walker Kessler. That's quite the upgrade from the Deandre Ayton experience and could even be the recipe that results in Doncic's first-ever MVP.
4. Minnesota Timberwolves
LaMelo Ball and Anthony Edwards are just a fun fit no matter what way you look at it. Minnesota finally landed a point guard of the future it's long wanted to pair alongside Edwards in the backcourt. The Timberwolves were competitive in their playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs. If Ball can change his narrative into becoming more of a serious, winning player, Minnesota could be a serious dark horse to reach the Finals.
3. Denver Nuggets
Despite Victor Wembanyama's alien ascension, Nikola Jokic likely remains the best basketball player in the world.
As a three seed, Denver underwhelmingly lost in the first round to Minnesota. Their elite offense anchored by Jokic wasn't enough to overcome a bad defense. Denver needs more out of its role players this upcoming season.
If not, it wouldn't be surprising to see a trade by February's deadline. They have to do something while they still have Jokic in his prime to ascend into that tier one with the Spurs and Thunder (spoiler alert).
2. San Antonio Spurs
The Spurs may have just gotten the better end of the Thunder to advance to the Finals. We're still taking the Thunder heading into the 2026-27 season.
This Spurs team should somehow be even better themselves next season. Internal improvement is an obvious one for one of the youngest teams in the league. Another year of Wembanyama continuing his alien ascension in particular. Tobias Harris was another under-the-radar addition this offseason, which fills a shot-creating forward void they previously lacked last year.
It wouldn't be surprising if this were the year San Antonio can gain that year of maturity and experience to put it all together and result in what could very well be the first of many rings for Victor Wembanyama.
1. Oklahoma City Thunder
It's a shame the Spurs and Thunder are in the same conference. It's even worse that these timelines are on the same as the Blazers' young core. It goes to show how much further Portland really has to go to become contenders, which makes more sense as to why they wouldn't make an all-in blockbuster splash this summer.
Expect OKC to remind teams who is truly the best in the league this season.
The depth may be revamped, but GM Sam Presti essentially replaced one gem with another. Most importantly, their core trio Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren remains. When Williams is healthy, that has a case to be the best trio in the association.
Combine that with historic defense and laughable amounts of depth at every position, and you have a team looking to start a dynastic run after barely falling short last year.
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